Old Friends, New Enemies
by Kyuumaster6000
Summary: I'll be blunt; as much as I love Ninjago, the writing can miss a mark or two. Great story overall, but sometimes they hide easter eggs that should have been a bigger deal. I am speaking of course of the Ultra Dragon in Season 9. Why didn't Kai, Jay or Zane recognize their old friend's bones was the main frame for the Baron's throne? Their reactions? Let's fix that, shall we?


In another time, in another place, three travel-worn prisoners where shoved forcefully on to the foul smelling dirt floor of a dimly lit tent. The canvas that surrounded them made the atmosphere humid and thick enough you could cut it with a knife, a raw oder of sweat, blood and other awful substances that accompanied actions that yielded the two. The dirt was corse and packed together roughly, sharp stones and even bits of metal, still resisted the beating of many generations of crude leather boots, and poked Kai in the face when his head hit the floor. Beside him Jay was silent, even after their assailants removed the other blindfolds. On the other side of Jay sat their mechanical brother Zane, a nindroid build to protect those that cannot protect themselves, although at the moment that function appeared unusable. Before coming out of the sun and into the strange dwelling, he had cautioned them in a low voice against letting their captors know their true identities. It wasn't much, but it was something, and in this situation using their elemental abilities would have been a certain death sentence. If these strange hunters killed dragons, what would they think of humans with Dragon elemental powers?

A deep raspy voice from the back of the tent drew their attention and all three of them froze. A pale man with a ridiculous top hat was lounging on something that looked like a throne. But it wasn't. Most thrones the ninja had seen weren't made of dragon bones. Familiar bones. Kai was only dimly aware of the man moving his cracked lips, speaking menacingly but his words had hit them like a brick wall that had gone deaf. All Kai could do was look at the farthest scull to the right. It still had a few red scales attached. The world was silent as they stared into the empty sockets of the Ultra Dragon. And then several things happened in an instant.

The man broke Kai's trance. He had gotten up and was tapping Zane on the head, still talking but his brain refused to register words anymore. A fire that had been fueling him desperately for the past weak dimmed momentarily but reigniting with the full force of a supernova when the man cast his lazy glance over him.

Kai moved. Maybe people were trying to stop him. Maybe the chains around his arms and wrists caused a slight problem. None of that seemed to mater much to the Master of Fire. Fists burst into molten hot flames, instantly melting his bindings when they realized what a minor inconvenience they were being. In a flash the fames enclosed his arms, leapt up his torso and set his hair ablaze.

The captors stumbled back, awestruck. They didn't have time to react.

Time stood still but Kai still moved. Letting out a breath that turned to a scream that crescendoed to a blood curdling roar, he leapt at the man, wings of bright searing heat fanning out behind him and hungrily latched on to any bystanders. He was only dimly aware that Zane had used his ice to block Kai's rage, covering Jay and himself in protective permafrost.

His mind wasn't there though. All he could do was follow where his feet lead him: right on top of that stupid, ugly screaming man and his stupid, stupid hat.

"_FLAAAAAAAAAAAME!"_

—

Later found an exhausted and knocked out Kai in a dank, awful smelling cross between a cage and an animal pit, only any animals that had once been there were presumably gone on a permanent holiday. Jay was still crying quietly, griping himself and hunched over in a corner. Zane would have been trying to comfort him, but his powers were simply too hard to control right now. Mixed with tears, electricity skittered out along his cheeks and sparked off whenever the Master of Lightning had to hiccup.

Instead, Zane sought to keep Kai's high temperature low, carefully keeping a cool mist of snow over his unconscious brother. He had used far too much of his elemental ability. If it hadn't been for that strange warrior in the back who had used a strange blade of bone that seemed to absorb their powers, Kai surly would have burned the whole encampment down, along with everyone in it.

He was no longer a blaze, crying in his sleep, occasionally mumbling about their old friend.

The UltraDragon had been a fusion of four of their oldest dearest friends; the dragons they had met on their very first adventure together. Zane remembered ridding on Shard's magnificent gleaming back for the first time, the way the Ice dragon had curled around the Nindroid protectively at night when they had been traveling on the road. He stoped that line of memory before his emotions and powers got the better of him. It would not do to freeze Kai solid in this weakened state.

"Wisp..." Jay finally spoke, still sniffing quietly. His eyes were red, his cheeks were pale against his freckles. "It wasn't him, right Zane? There's got to be more fusion dragons besides them, right?"

Zane sat back, rubbing his face in his hands. Human motions usually helped him focus. He picked up their resting brother and brought them close together. Jay had stoped sparking for now.

Jay giggled mirthlessly, trying to switch to topic so he wouldn't have to hear Zane's answer. "Heh, heh, I didn't know we could cry our own elements, did you? Man what do you think Lloyd would cry? Lime soda? Green tea? Maybe this is why we've never seen Cole cry-" his voice was caught in his chest by another sob. Zane put a consoling arm around his other brother, rocking him gently. Ice began to encrust his vision, he blinked and the shards fell away.

"Th-they weren't supposed to be here, right? They were going to the Mystical Shoals or something like that. Not this place. They were supposed to be happy there, not a- a-"

"I know." Zane said softly although hearing his friend's grieve only made the pain inside intensify. He pulled the Lightning ninja into a firm, cooling hug, a welcome relief to the dry heat of this world. "I know."

"What do we tell Cole?" Jay mumbled, face buried into the rags of his metal brother's robes.

Zane was silent. He hadn't considered that. He hadn't considered much of anything when he had seen the Baron's throne. If he were human, he would have hurled at the sight.

They sat there, grasping one another for a while, Kai's head gently resting on Zane's Lap. Finally Zane spoke.

"We tell him the truth. I do not know much about Cole's past, but it doesn't not take a Nindroid to see that he is familiar with... loss."

"It's just not fair." Jay griped tighter, as though clinging desperately on to Zane would bring their friend back. "They were supposed to be happy! They were supposed to be safe! And now we find out that they've been- been HERE all this time! We should have gone with them! We should have protected them! We should've- We, we should've..." he dissolved into more sobbing. Zane didn't mind the small shocks.

"Yes." Zane rubbed Jay's back soothingly. "This is unfair. But we didn't know. How could we? And even if we did, how could we have gotten to them?"

"I don't know, but we should have! They were our _family_ Zane! They were there for us so much, and we couldn't be there for them just this once, when it really mattered-"

Zane shushed Jay quietly, continuing to rub bis brother's back and rock him. "We cannot change what has been done," he said as gently as he could. "When I- When I lost my father, I had plenty of warning. Time to grieve and to recover."

" 'Recover?' Zane, We're stranded in a realm where we have no way of getting back, captured by a band of savage murderers, separated from each other, I don't even know if Cole's alive-"

"He is. Cole's tough." This came from Kai who had surfaced from his fevered haze. He lay there, unmoving.

"SO WAS ULTRA!" Jay choked out a scream, banging his fists against Zane's metal skin. "It's. NOT! FAIR! WE SHOULD HAVE MADE THEM STAY! WE SHOULD HAVE GONE WITH THEM! THEY-" Jay broke down mid mid rant, sobbing openly, gripping on to Zane as though his life depended on it. Kai wearily hauled himself up to a sitting position besides Zane and joined the hug. After a few long moments, Jay mumbled in a tiny voice "They should still be- be alive."

The three sat, backs against the strange rocky wall, huddled together. How long they did this, it really didn't seem to matter.

Finally Kai broke the silence. "I wish I has incinerated that freak."

"You very nearly did." Zane replied.

"Ya, if it weren't for that sword guy, this place would be a crater." Jay sniffed, falling into step with the conversation.

"But-" the other two turned to look at Zane. "I'm glad you did not. Oh I assure you, that twisted 'Baron' deserved it. But when we were tossed in here, I thought I saw some children running about."

"Children? Here?!"

"Well, all these hunters had to come from somewhere, I guess." Kai thought about chucking a rock against the wall but his muscles decided against it.

"They may be cruel and wretched, they might have imprisoned us and- well you know."

"Made our friends into furniture?" Kai supplied bitterly.

"But if the surrounding environment is anything to go off here, I'd like to imagine that they are forced to departed measures."

"By killing dragons?"

"I never said I approved of their actions. In a way, I pity them. Because they do not understand what true friends dragons can be. That they are raised with the belief you have to bring them down in order to survive."

"Pity." Kai spat. "One day, maybe I'll be a nice as you are, Zane."

"If we live long enough." Jay paused. "I don't want to die here."

"We won't let that happen." Kai said darkly, glaring at the bars of their cage.

"Indeed." Zane held on to his brothers and closed his eyes. "We will protect each other. A ninja never leave another behind. We will endure. And we will live."


End file.
